I got rid of the POS hunter system with the wand (which worked 1/2 the time) and went with the orbit b-hyve controller for about $60 and it takes 5 mins to install and 30 mins to program. I’ve had this in my other houses and I’ve converted a dozen friends from various controllers to the b-hyve. You can control this right from your iPhone/ipad/siri. Plus the b-hyve will sync to your nearest government weather station or you can connect it to a close by personal weather station.

For around $150, I installed my own personal weather station and the b-hyve is connected to it. With the rain so spotty here in the villages, I want to know how much rain I received not how much somebody got a mile from here. The people that I got converted over to the b-hyve near me point to my personal weather station.

My weather station data gets updated to weather underground and to weathercloud every 10 seconds so I can check out my weather stats online.

I’m on the other side of this. I love my Hunter with wifi. I can control it from wherever I am. It’s been working great for 3 years.

Seasonal is a setting
 

It sounds like the software setting for seasonal is not "sticking" to the value you chose...so your solution is a good one...

Seasonal override is indeed adjustable per the manual "Seasonal adjust can be increased so that the stations will run longer than the programmed time. Conversely, as Fall approaches, the seasonal adjust can be reduced to allow for short watering durations. Turn the dial to the SEASONAL ADJUST position. Press the or buttons to set the percentage desired from 5% to 300%."

My system never seemed to operate that way. The manual says to set the watering times and then set the seasonal adjust setting to 100 percent. But, my system always lowered the seasonal adjust setting to substantially lower than 100 regardless of the season, even though the manual says that the setting can go up to as high as 300 percent. I also noticed that other houses on my street had different Region settings, either 2, 3, or 4, even though they were all installed by the same irrigation company. I think the solar sync is overly complicated, and I would rather make manual adjustments to the watering schedule based on the season and the appearance of my lawn.

I believe you will find that manual seasonal adjust is overridden by the software if you have a Solar Sync installed. Retiredguy solved this "problem" by disconnecting the Solar Sync.

Agreed! It’s especially important when temperatures are expected to be within freezing range. It will keep your landscape from becoming a winter wonderland covered with a coating of ice.

As others have said, the seasonal adjust setting is controlled by the solar sync sensor. It is designed that way. You may think you are watering for 30 minutes, but the solar sync sensor can change it. So, it is important to check the seasonal adjust setting peroiodically to determine how long you are actually watering your lawn.

South of 466, watering in the rain does not waste water. What is not used by soil is collected by the ponds for reuse.

Even when the rain sensor works as designed, it is not very effective, especially when you are only watering 2 times per week. If it rains for 2 or 3 days, I just turn the system off.

Our Hydrawise app is very user-friendly. It uses the ‘local’ rainfall in Leesburg airport (the nearest source) I can adjust up or down from there.
I will comment that I occasionally run mine an extra cycle here and there to ensure the potted plants get adequate watering since they do dry out quicker than the ground plants.
We are part time and in a courtyard villa.

But do you have water running down street watering the storm drain for 20 plus minutes?

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What if ponds are low? Are wasting money? Not everybody lives south of 466.

I agree completely. You can set it to use Rachio's standard weather information or set it to a nearby weather station in your village.

:agree:

And I had a personal weather station at my previous home and wanted one here. Getting the Rachio gave me the extra push to set up a station here. I have the Rachio looking at my personal weather station and no longer have to rely on a "rain sensor" that is known for being unreliable. Several neighbors have also gotten a Rachio and connect it to my station. I've been using it for about 3 1/2 months and so far have saved almost $45 in irrigation costs. I expect greater savings as time goes on as I expect I was overwatering last spring and summer.